Secondary Support
by Mxthomas
Summary: Alex, a secondary AI aboard the UNSC Spirit of Fire. He sports a differing personality from his partner but he's determined to ensure the survival of the ship and crew. This is his story.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: This idea has been killing me, and I'm writing it now. Hope you enjoy!**_

Serina stood alone on what seemed to be a table, a table used for projections and tactical maps for the crew of the UNSC_ Spirit of Fire. _The ship was a re-fitted _Pheonix-class_ colony ship that was now being used as a carrier by the UNSC Navy. The captain was a wise man by the name of James Cutter, he was well versed in naval combat and the various conflicts of the Human-Covenant war due to his training and experience. And I use the word 'war' lightly. It was more along the lines of genocide, planet glassing, and Humanity being pushed back further away from their homes. The Covenant interested Serina, their combat behavior, ship designs, and tactics all interested her. But right now she was a bit to tired to really care. The ship was currently stationed over the planet Harvest and was trying to re-establish a foothold by re-taking alpha base. But when Forge had arrived the covenant had already wrecked the place.

"Serina, deploy a pod. We need to get alpha base up and running again." Cutter ordered. Serina was getting tired quickly and the workload had begun to slow her data chip down but it wasn't even close to overloading.

"Aye, sir.." She said wearily. And thats when she heard it.

Soft footsteps only she could hear because they were on the holotable right behind her, and she soon felt a gentle precsense to her left. When she glanced over she saw a young man dressed in a white jacket with a longsleeved shirt beneath it, white pants and dress shoes with dark hair that fell around halfway down his neck and swept over his left eyebrow. But his blue hue pretty much made the color meaningless.

This was the ship's auxillary AI. Alex was his name. He had been commissioned to the ship almost immediatly after Serina had. Alex was a calm, gentle, and usually quiet AI that appeared only when she got exhausted by the work load. Serina had been active for a while and she needed to cool down but she wasn't about to overload which made her confused, he rarely appeared unless it was an absolute emergency. Alex was a 'Smart' AI meaning he wasn't programmed to respond to certain keywords or actions, he had his own personality and acted as he wished. He smiled at her.

"Let me handle it." He said softly. "Go on and rest." It was hard for her to ignore him as she did most others.

"But I-" Serina's pride attempted to stop him but when he made a face at her she shut up immediatly. He smiled again and gestured back at the Holotable.

"I can handle this." He said once more. "Rest."

"Im fine!"

"Serina..." He said while pouting slightly. _'Damn you...'_ She thought.

"Ok, but if something happens I'm coming back up here." She stated firmly to which he only chuckled.

"Deal." He said.

And with that, Serina dissapeared into the ship's AI core. It was cozy to her for some reason, she felt safe in there. Alex however didn't really care much, it didn't matter where he was. He always seemed perfectly content with whatever he was doing.

Alex stood on the Holotable and watched Cutter as he paced, before he decided to speak up in a clear voice.

"Sir, I recommend reinforcements for Alpha base. They can't survive down there without help."

Cutter simply stared at him before saying. "Your right...send a pelican down with five Marines and a Warthog. They need the mobility."

"Aye sir." Alex said before dissapearing into the hangar.

Serina on the other hand was feeling much better, and had decided to go back up to the bridge. She knew Alex would probably be dissapointed but she really didn't care, she loved to mess with the guy anyways.

"Captain." She said, announcing her arrival. Cutter seemed confused for a moment.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" He asked. Serina dramtically gasped and brought a hand to her chest.

"Captain, are you saying you don't want me here? You wound me!" She said. She just loved to mess with people didn't she?

Cutter simply groaned and rolled his eyes before going back to whatever else he was doing. Which was watching the pod touch down on alpha base, and Forge cleaning up what was left of their unexpected guests.

"Your going to make him start ripping his hair out you know." Came Alex's voice from behind her. He was speaking softly like he always did. He never seemed to get angry with anything.

She turned and smiled at him. "Oh, are you going to kick me out to?" she said with a fake pout. Alex simply rolled his eyes and walked up next to her.

"You are going to be the death of me." Alex said. Serina smirked at him and replied. "Oh, you love me and you know it." To which Alex rolled his eyes and looked of to the side. Alex found Serina interesting in all honesty but she seemed off to him, not enough to make him lose interest but she really knew how to push someone's buttons. But thats what makes her different to him.

"Good work sergeant, we'll send back up immediatly." Cutter said over the coms before turning back to the bridge crew. "Alpha base is ours." He said and most of them clapped in response except for Serina who simply said some snarky comment that Alex just ignored. Now that they had Alpha base they could began counter offensive operations against the Covenant in that sector.

"Serina, Alex, get Anders on the line and up here immediatly. Forge has a message she may want to hear." Cutter ordered.

"Bringing Ms. Pain in my side to the bridge, Aye sir!" Serina said with a smirk. Alex was used to her snarky comments and replies, but he couldn't help but reprimand her sometimes. Therefore Serina recieved a flick to the ear.

"Hey!" She yelped at him. Alex simply gave her a innocent look. She pouted in return.

"You never let me have any fun."

Alex smiled and said. "It's why I'm here."

A few minutes later Anders, Cutter, Serina, and Alex were all watching a video from Forge himself, supposedly about 'Something in the ice', though Alex was a bit unfocused and was staring off into space. Serina decided to ask him something.

"Hey." She whispered, Alex just turned around and looked at her.

"Why'd you step in back there?, I wasn't anywhere close to overloading, my chip was just a bit over worked. I was fine." She asked curiously. Alex simply shrugged. He tended to do that alot.

"Got bored." He responded with a smile.

Serina just turned back to the message with a chuckle, apparently Anders was going down to the surface. This made Serina a bit sad, she'd have no one to mess with and tease! She sighed, oh well she'll just have to wait for Anders to return then. Alex simply stared off into space again, not really caring much for the developing situation around him.

"Alex." Cutter said, snapping the AI out of his stupor.

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to get a group of units together. Just in case." Cutter said.

"Aye sir."

Alex had been appointed command of a small portion of the ship's forces. One pelican, 3 Warthog 'Scout' variants, Three squads of Marines, and a Scorpion for a little extra punch.

Alex decided he would take one scout, two Marine squads, and the Scorpion while telling the Pelican to remain on standby. His forces boarded their transports and headed out while he watched the dropships decend towards Harvest, completely oblivious to Serina standing behind him.

Serina turned to the captain.

"I ran scans of the area around Alpha base, they're going to need more than what they have if they want to destroy a whole covenant base." She infomed.

Cutter nearly choked on his coffe.

"A Covenant base?!"

"Aye sir, a small one but it's still producing troops. We'll need to eliminate it befor we move on."

Cutter turned to Alex.

"Concentrate all of your firepower on that base once we find it." He ordered. Alex saluted and began to inform his troops of the new situation.

Alex than began giving orders to his troops, ordering the Scorpion to stay back in cover and work as mobile artillery while the marines handled CQC engagements on the left flank. Forge's troops had reached the base and had begun unloading ungodly amounts of fire into it, but they had barely left a dent in the thing. Alex ordered his Marines and his Scorpion to focus their fire on the base's fule stores and supply warehouses which were on the oppisite side of the base from Forge. Pretty soon the fuel and supply stores went up and with it the base.

Alex let out a sigh of relief upon hearing there were zero casualties, but Serina joked about it.

"Oh come on, it's no fun without a little bloodshed."

Alex simply stared at her. "Really, Serina? Really?" He said.

"What? I made a joke! Sue me." She said, Alex simply looked down and shook his head while Cutter did the same.

To be honest, that was the first time Alex ever did somethind besisdes moniter the systems and act as Cutter's assistant. He was made to deal with severe emergencies but he could do the things any other AI could just as easily. But after the engagement he handed command over his troops to Forge in the meantime. He wasn't really good as good at this as Forge or Cutter was. Serina looked over to her AI companion and grinned.

"You can command troops?" She asked.

"We-well yeah, can't all AI's do that?" He said, embaressed. He really wasn't used to praise from anyone due to the fact he worked away from the bridge generally and monitered subroutines. That and the fact that Serina really wasn't the one to congratulate people.

"Yeah all AI's can but you did good for your first time." She said with a wink.

Alex sat there for a second _'Why did she wink...oh..ohhhh...OH'_

"Wh-what? No not like that!" He said turning away while Serina laughed at his expense. Funny hpw a second ago he was reprimanding her for making jokes, but now she had him shying away from the situation. She was better than she thought at this.

"Alright I'm just joking, come on." She said in between laughs. Alex turned around and glared at her for a moment before sighing and walking bak to the other side of the Holotable as he shook his head and he put his regular gentle smile back on.

"Fine, but you really need to quit with that or one of these days someones gonna snap." Alex said.

Serina stared down at Harvest and replied "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Alex just smiled and left to go to some other part of the ship.

Alex walked around in the Medical bay, looking at sick and wounded UNSC Crewmen and Marines, he felt sorry for them but there really wasn't much he could do about it. He kept walking until he reached the end of the Holotable in the Med bay meaning he could go no further, it saddend him really. He soon felt another presence behind him and he truned aroud to see Serina standing there, she walked up beside him as he turned around to face the cots again.

"You really worry about them don't you?" She asked Alex as she joined him in looking the injured crew over.

"I've memorised their names, birthdays, home adresses, serial numberes, medical history and everything else the UNSC databanks can tell me. I feel like it's my responsability to protect them. Don't you?"

Serina had trouble answering that, she was an AI made to serve Humanity and it's goals, and to protect it's interests as well. But was she obligated to protect every single Human in the universe?

She just didn't know. She gave him the best answer she could.

"They knew this could happen when they signed up for this. It's not our fault." She tried to reassure him further by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's our job to keep this from happening. But I guess your right." He stood up and smiled bfore he leaned forward and hugged her.

...Wait, what?

It took Serina a second to process that but all the evidence she neeeded was right in front of her.

"Thanks" He began as he broke the hug and turned to walk away. "I'll be on the Bridge if you need me." He said before he dissapeared from the holotable. Serina started walking slowly forward to join him back on th bridge but during the short walk there she had one thouht that lingered in her mind. _'Why did he feel warm?_'

_**AN: So there is the first of many chapters to come, and this story is taking priority. As usual R&R and i'll see you next time.**_


	2. One long week

_**AN: After seeing how bad i screwed up Serina's personality i've decided to start writing her as she should be written, be warned,im shoddy with writing personalities.**_

Alex stood alone on the bridge of the Spirit. The crew was actually sleeping for the first time in a while and Serina was in a dormant hibernation within the AI core. Alex had decided to stay awake for a bit longer. They got word of a Covenant attack on Arcadia and they were heading out next week after they cleaned up Harvest.

"So AI's suffer from Insomnia now? That's interesting." A voice said behind him. Oh dear...here we go. He turned to see none other than Serina. Impossible to miss with her blue hue against the dull gray piping and walls of the bridge. She stepped forward next to him and stared out of the large observation window that was centered around the various consoles, screens, chairs, and the holotable.

"Evening to you as well." Alex said in casual greeting.

"Technically it's night." She said in her usual tone of snark and saracasm. She could really a prick sometimes can't she? Alex didn't mind though.

"Quite the view dont you think?" Alex said quietly while gestering to Harvest.

"Oh yes indeed. And if you will look to your right you will see a burning planet with thousands of people dying everyday! And that concludes our tour." She said with a small bow at the end.

"My aren't you optimistic." Alex said while fighting off laughter. He actually found alot of her jokes suprisingly funny.

"Thank you, I try." She said with a smirk. Alex started to walk back to the holotable, glancing back at the planet below before finally going off into the AI core, and going into sleep mode. For about one hour.

"General quarters! General quarters! All hands man your battle stations!" The shout threw him from his sleeping state, and made him panic slightly. He appeared on the bridge and looked to see Serina bringing weapon systems up, Cutter barking orders out to the hectic bridge crew who were flicking switches, pressing buttons, and all sorts of things. He looked out of the observation window to see a sight that was born in hell.

A CRS-Class Cruiser was drifting broadside to them, weapons charging and shields up. This thing was aiming for the kill.

"Oh no..." He breathed as he saw the massive vessel speed up slightly. The spurts of blue flame blowing out of the rear engines contrasted heavily to the blackness of space.

"Alex!" He turned to see Cutter giving him an order. "You have the helm, bring us broadside to it. Serina you have the guns, as soon as Alex gets you lined up I want you to hit them with everything you've got."

"Aye sir!"

"Aye sir! Preparing the peashooters that we call guns!"

The CRS was firing by the time Alex had them broadside, they suffered four heavy hits on the upper left glacias of the hull. "Serina!" Alex shouted, indicating that they were in position. "On it!"

The side deck guns opened up, spraying shrapnel, fire, and smoke all over the place. The point defence systems also fired but had neglegable effect to it. Thankfully the CRS didn't have as powerful shielding as they thought they did, which was indicated by a massive explosion near the front of the vessel, apparently therir shields weren't fully charged quite yet. The room lit up with that, cheers, claps, and shouts of SUCK IT! Resonated throughout the room. Alex smiled slightly while Serina said "I bet that was good for them." Alex laughed, but the sound was drowned out by all the other cheering in the bridge.

"Alex, get me damage reports from the impact area of those shots, Serina get a line to Forge, tell him his backup is gonna be a bit delayed. Good work you two."

"Thank you sir."

"As usual."

"Sir contact is still moving! Heading east 1-4-5-1!" The tactical operations officer shouted, which threw the bridge back into pandamoneoum. The ship was suddenly rocked once more as two more shots made contact with the armor plating. But the CRS didnt seem in much better shape with the giant hole in the bow that was spilling out purple flames. They looked rather nice to Alex.

"Serina!" Cutter shouted.

"I see it!" She shouted back before firing off another salvo frome the deck guns, hitting the CAS right where she did before, blowing the bow clean off the vessel. Now the crew could be excited. And they were. Alex looked over to a smug looking Serina and smiled.

"Good shooting!" Alex said over the cheering.

"I know!" She said back . Alex simply smiled and shook his head, at least she was confident in her abiliteies.

"Alex, Serina, previous orders still stand and again good work." Cutter said as he walked back over to his chair behind a large screen.

"Sir damage reports show that there was a hull breach in section nine, ive sealed it off but we need to have it repaired soon. We've lost deck guns 5-A7 and 5-A8. Other than that is just minor plasme demage." Alex reporeted the ship's condition.

"Alright, Alex, get me three Pelicans and a Shortsword down there." Cutter ordered.

"Aye sir." Alex said as he dissapeared into the hanger.

"I'll tell Forge to not try and blow himeslf up with the fighter. Though that would be entertaining." Serina said befor she to dissapeared.

Serina found Alex speaking with the Shortsword pilot about the situation down on Harvest, more than likely to let him know what he was walking into down there. Apparently the pilot's name was "Richard", Serina pulled up some files. He was thirty eight years old with a very impresive track record. Twelve confirmed aerial kills, an untold amount of ground kills, and a graduate of the UNSC Naval academy with high honors. He seemed well fit for the job. The hangar was noisy with the sounds of various tools, engines, and shouts with some gunfire here and there. Probably the firing range. Alex was just staring out over the swarm of color and sound thinking of what Forge found down there, though as soon as Serina stepped forward he spoke.

"Somethings not right.." He said quietly.

"What?" She asked.

"That Cruiser, it was too easy..." He said. Serina smirked. The pilot walked off to his fighter.

"Oh come on, it's not like the crew is gonna comeback to haunt us or anything." She said.

"I know, it's just that i think they were suprised." He said. "Their shields didn't seem fully charged. Well that and you probably hit something critical."

"I did, they keep a rather large amount of torpedoes in that area." She said with a grin.

"Indeed they do."

Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Captain James Cutter was staring out over Harvest. Five years...five long years...and they still don't have it all back..Cutter planned on changing that. If they could secure a few more critical supply lanes than they may have resources nessicary to set up a few more fortresses. The Spirit wasn't the only ship out here, no not by any stretch of the imagination! He could look outside right now and see three _Paris-class_ frigates mopping up what was left of a lone Covenant corvette. But was this enough? Alex had said that the Covenant Naval presence over Harvest was thick with mostly destroyers, but they hadn't run into one yet. The CRS was the largest thing that they had got in a gunfight with and they had gotten_ extremely _lucky against it. Apparently they hit something important and their shields weren't completely up yet. Cutter decided not to think to much on it. Better not to question when something goes your way.

He turned to see Serina and Alex appear back on the bridge, their blue hues were distinguishable from the usual orange, green, and gray that filled the bridge. Alex spoke up first.

"Any further orders Captain?" The AI asked.

"No, nothing. Just keep an eye out for any other vessels that enter the area." He ordered and Alex nodded. Serina however suddenly shouted with fake urgency.

"Sir! Three contacts on our starboard side!" This threw the bridge crew back into panic. Alex had simply facepalmed and stared at the ground. The crew brought up the scanners, weapons, and had begun alerting the fighters in the hangar...only to find the three frigates from earlier diving down toward Harvest to begin providing heavy aerial supprort.

"Verry funny Serina. Verry funny." Came cutters voice from the capitan's chair.

John Forge was having a very bad day. First Alpha base, then having to wipe out a Covenant outpost, and now this? He was currently stairing down at a rather important looking Elite that was giving orders to various Grunts, Jackals, and lower raning Elites alike. Though, the construction before them was the most curious sight compared to the rest of it. The sleek grey slanted beams blended well with the snow, but the teal lights imbedded in said walls played against the natural camoflague. As well did the explosives that the Grunts were planting at various points.

"Charlie Eight-Two is in position. Permission to take the shot sir?" A Marine sniper radioed Forge from across the ridge. His aim was currently on the important looking Elite's head.

"Negative Eight-Two. We can't blow our cover. We may take one but I'm pretty sure the other ones will be pissed off about it." He replied.

"Copy, holding fire." The sniper replied before static dominated the channel.

Forge took a look behind him to see the baron, snow riddled land scape that proved to be a challenge for his Warthog that he was forced to leave behind around a hundred yards back. Forge turned back around to see the Elite turning his head back Forge's way. He couldn't risk detection.

_'Shit...'_ he thought as he rolled behind a snow mound to his left, obscuring him from view. He peeked back out a few moments later to see the Elite had turned the other direction and was walking to a covenant dropship that had landed nearby.

"Charlie Eight-Two, fall back to Alpha. We're gonna need alot more firepower." Forge ordered his sniper.

"Copy, pulling back."

John Forge was going to have a _long_ week.

Proffesser Ellen Anders was intruiged. From sergeant Forge's reports, she detrmined that the covenant have found either, A) A weapon. B) A cache of weapons. Or C) An artifact. Knowing the Covenant, option C was the most likely of the three choices. But when she heard 'Explosives' she began to wonder. Why would the Covenant destroy something that's so important to them? The Coveneant worked in mysterious ways. She went back to her terminal desk and began typing up a report. Something to call back on for future reference. After that was done, she went down to the cafateria from her lab. Walking along the grey steel walls with the occasional window that looked out into space and intersecting hallways with chatting crewmen and Marines she finally reached the elevator and called it to her floor and began to wait. And wait, and wait.

_'What is taking so long?'_ She thought as she waited. And waited some more. Until Alex appeared on a Holotank beside the elevator.

"Apologies Professer, but you are needed on the bridge immediatly." He said befor he dissapeared to head back to the bridge. She groaned.

Ellen Anders was going to have a _long _week.

On the bridge, Serina and Alex were viewing the images from Forge's report on the thing he found.

The images puzzled Alex, he had never seen arcitecture like that anywhere, nor could he find anything in the UNSC databanks. Serina was just as confused, though for a different reason. Explosives? Why? It seems the Covenant were ready to go to extreme lengths to stop them from seeing whatever was in there.

"Sir, I suggest an offensive in that area, what ever is in there seems very important." Anders said, eager to find out what had the covenant so worked up.

"I would advise against it captain. From what I picked up there is alot of defensive force guarding that thing." Serina said, but Alex had a feeling she was disagreeing simply to argue.

Cutter stopped pacing for a moment and then turned to look at Alex.

"What do you think of this?" He asked the other AI. What did Alex think of this? Well the area was heavily guarded and there was ALOT of enemy armor stationed around the structure, but if it was important enough to blow it up just for the sake of the UNSC not seeing it than it could be well worth the risk. That and his curiosity was really starting to get the better of him. He just hoped Serina didn't get too pissed off at the fact that he disagreed with her.

"The area has heavy defenses, and caualties should be expected. But if we mass up enough firepower we may be able to force our way through. And if whatever is in there is that important to them, then it'll be worth the risk."

"Very well. Serina, contact Forge and tell him to have his men ready. And Alex?" Cutter said.

"Sir?"

"Get _it_ prepared."

Oh dear, this was a bit more serious than he thought if he was going to give Forge something like that.

"Are you sure sir? Forge can be a bit...trigger happy..." Alex said cautiously. Forge was notorious for loving explosives and the beautiful result that they gave.

"You said we needed firepower and firepower is what were gonna get. It may be nessecary to use it." Cutter said seriously. He was willing to do pretty much anything if it meant getting the upper hand over the Covenant, including putting soldiers like Forge at risk. But Forge was known for being hard to kill so Cutter wasn't really worried to much about him.

"Aye sir." Alex said before dissapearing into the Hangar to ready Forge's special suprise.

"_Finally!_ I get to see Forge blow himself up!" Serina said excitedly from the Holotable. Cutter simply sighed and turned to the bridge crew. Alex just stared at her.

"Get us a bit closer to the planet, we may need the MAC." Cutter ordered. He then got back in his chair. This was going to be a _long_ week. And it was just beginning.

_**AN: And there is chapter two, hope you enjoyed! And also a scpecial thanks to BbK2442 for his assistance in helping me figure out how to write this correctly. You should check him out if your also a fan of Strike Witches.**_


	3. Final Preperations

_**AN: INTO THE MOTHERLAND THE GERMAN ARMY MARCH! (Cough) Sorry, thought it seemed appropriate for what's about to appear XD As always R&R and I hope you enjoy!**_

Alex stared at the absolute monster of a machine that was being loaded onto a Pelican equipped with heavy lift gear. Why heavy lift gear? Well the average Scorpion main battle tank had an average weight of around fourty-four tons, this beast however was designed by Forge himself and therefore it weighed an ungodly ninety-two tons. It was Forge's pride and joy. It was the ground force's trump card. It was the Grizzly super-heavy tank. Equipped with two 105mm, Tungsten spewing main guns it was a force to be reckoned with. At first glance at Forge you'd think that giving him this would be like handing a terrorist the keyes to a Frigate and pointing him to the nearest community center. But through heavy examination, and close monotoring of Forge, Alex deemed this not to be complete suicide.

"Oh god, what have we done? Giving him something like this..." Anders said from beside Alex. Alex turned and smiled at her.

"Relax Professer, the sergeant designed this vehicle. I'm sure he knows what it's capable of." He said in an attempt to comfort her. To which Anders looked up and gave a small smile.

"I'm aware he know's what it's capable of, and that's why i'm worried." She said. Alex had suspisions of infatuation betwwen Forge and Anders but he never really was able to confirm it. He was preparing to ask her about it, but Serina beat him to the punch.

"Scared for your under the table lover Anders?" She said, appearing beside Alex. Serina had a knack for showing up in a situation where she could use her teasing perfectly. Something Alex had grown accepting of in the time he's served with her.

"Always a pleasure to see you to, Serina." Anders said with a sigh, it was evident she had no tolerance for Serina's attitude. Alex could underatnd that in a way, Serina's jokes could get a bit dark. And occasionaly offensive. But that's actually one of the things he enjoyed about her company. She could alway draw a laugh out of him.

He then proceded to sit there and listen to the bickering that took place. And by bickering I mean Anders being_ very_ defensive, while Serina just continued to repeatedly tease her. Until Anders said this.

"What about you and Alex?" She said, suddenly smirking. A smirk that didn't last long. For Serina had a comeback for everything.

"Oh, you and your sick fantasies." She said and the smile fell right off of Ander's face. Something that Serina absolutely _loved_ to see. She really was a prick. And Anders seem to be the victim of this.

"Apologies for interrupting ladies, but Cutter will be holding a meeting to plan the attack soon. I suggest against keeping him waiting." Alex said politely to them both, effectively stopping the bickering. Serina looked back at him as Anders left the hangar.

"Your too nice. You know that?" She said. Alex smiled. "I know." He said before walking to the other side of the Holotable and dissapearing to attend Cutter's meeting. Serina followed shortly.

"Expect reinforcements shortly sergeant. We're taking that structure." Cutter told Forge through the ship's comms. He had been talking to Forge about what he saw and if there was anything he didn't catch with his camera. Apparently the was some important looking Elite in sliver armor and two more wraiths. Cutter let out an agitated sigh, the enemy had even more firepower. Lovely. Alex appeared back on the Holotable and Serina followed seconds later, Alex was having a conversation with her. He thought he heard Serina say something along the lines of "I'll bet we'll be able to see what bits that are left of him fly up in front of the window." Alex laughed upon hearing that, and Cutter tilted his head._ 'You know what? I'm not even going to ask...'_ He thought. Serina had an odd sense of humor. Alex noticed Cutter staring at them and spoke up.

"Anything you need sir?" He asked with his usual tone of politeness.

"Get me an ETA on Forge's reinforcements." He ordered. Serina was about to speak but Alex managed to cut her off before some smart ass comment could come out.

"Approximately...five minutes sir." Alex said after a pause. Cutter thought for a bit before speaking to Alex again.

"Are your men still down there?" He asked.

"Affirmative sir, they are in position at Alpha base." He said. He could already see where the Captain was going with this. "Would you like me to inform them of our plan?"

"Yes, also have the Grizzly on the front line as soon as it arrives. We're going to need something to take the hits for them." Cutter said as he took another drink of his coffe. Alex simply saluted and left the bridge.

"Serina, ready the MAC. We may need to provide some heavy air support." Cutter ordered.

"Okay, but no promises that I won't shoot Forge first." She said as she brought up a display and began spinning the MAC up."Anything else your Highness?" She asked sarcastically. Cutter just sighed.

"No, Serina. No further orders." Cutter replied with some agitation seeping through his voice. Serina departed and Cutter sank back in his chair. From the scout reports and what Alex had to say, Cutter knew this was going to be a tough fight. He knew he'd lose men and when Alex said to 'Expect casualties' he swore he saw the AI grimace. But this is what it took to reclaim Harvest, and Cutter was ready to do what it took.

Forge was sitting on one of the various bunks in the barracks attatched to Alpha base. He was thinking of the upcomming assault on the structure and was glancing around at the Marines in the room with him. Some didn't seem any older than 18, they were just kids marching blindly into what was almost certainly ultimate death. The other Marines seemed to be around the age group of 25-35, they seemed a bit more concious of what was going to happen tommorow and it showed. Some were saying prayers of various religions or checking their rifles. Forge suddenly felt a tug on his arm. A young private was sitting down beside him, and upon inspecting his tags his name was shown to be "Benjamin Carmine".

"Sarge? I heard some rumors that you saw a shitload of covies down at the relic, is it true?"

Forge smirked and replied. "More like ten shitloads." He said and he wasn't lying. Not one bit. But what the private said next made Forge very...avid.

"I also heard that there bringing something called the 'Grizzly' down here from the ship! Sounds good, dosen't it Sir?" The private said before getting up to answer some call from another soldier.

"Oh yes it does..Yes it does.." Forge said to himself as he leaned back onto is bed. Forge was going to have a very fun day tommorow.

Richard Allen was having one hell of a field day. His Shortsword was being strained to the max with it's engine power. He had the throttle in the full forward position and was lining up for another run on a Covenant aromored brigade that was currently patroling the area around a few methane pumps that had been set up by one of the first Covenant batallions to set foot on Harvest. More than likely for the Grunt's breathing tanks. He dived down and lined up a bombing run on a few Wraiths that had a group of Ghosts with them. The spear like bombs imbedded into the snowy ground before detonating a moment later and wiping out the small armored force. He glanced around to make another run for he had plenty of orinance left and was more than willing to use it. He then discovered that he had eliminated the force before they could all escape!

_'Huh! Lucky me!'_ Richard thought to himself before banking right and shooting off through the snowy night sky. He was having a good week so far but it was about to get a whole lot worse starting tommorow.

Ellen Anders sat in her lab with her elbow on her desk and her chin propped up with her palm, she was thinking even more about the relic they had found. The images Forge haad secured gave her an idea of what the rest of the structure looked like, grey steel slants and teal lights that is, but she wanted to see it for herself. Pictures can get distorted and they can only tell you so much and she wanted to get every last drop of information out of that place. What ever it was. So with a determined glint in her eye, a spring in her step, and a firm mindset she st off for the bridge.

"No." Cutter had simply stated at Anders' proposal at heading down to Harvest on the first Pelican out. The idea was simply outrageous! Anders was too important to lose to the Covenant. If they captured her it would be absolutely catastrophic.

"But sir, I find it an absolute nesessity to find out what's down there. A picture can only give me so much!" Anders exclaimed in desperation. Cutter looked at her.

"No means no Anders. And it would mean risking the lives of-" He began to lecture her but was cut off when Alex spoke up from the Holotable.

"Sergeant Forge is on the Vid-Com for you sir." He said politely. Cutter sighed. "Patch him through." Cutter said as Forge appeared on the Holotable. He appeared to be sitting in the main office in Alpha Base's command center.

"Something urgent sergeant?" Cutter asked with the tiniest hint of worry in his voice. Forge's answer was different than expected.

"No sir but i have a suggestion." He said. Cutter looked at him questioningly for a moment before going back to his usual stern commanding composure. "And what might that be?" He asked.

"Send down Anders." Forge said. Cutter's eyes widend and his head recoiled slightly. Forge was in on this to?

"And your reasoning is?" Cutter asked suspicously.

"I think she may want to see whats down here. And we could use the help if theres any tech we can't opereate." He clarified.

While all of this went on, Alex watched silently. He was questioning Forge's motives for wanting Anders to join him in the assault, it was going to be a total warzone down there and Anders was no fighter.

"Wow, he wants to screw her so bad he's willing to put her life at risk. I admire his dedacation." Serina whispered from behind Alex, causing him to crack up slightly. After a moment of Alex regaining his composure he turned to Serina.

"No, I don't think he's willing to go that far. Plus, it's a bit to cold for that down there." Alex said with a tiny smirk, deciding to pull a joke of his own. Serina laughed, a beautiful melodic sound to Alex's ears.

"Oh ho ho! Look who's trying his hand at humor!" She said with a grin. Alex simply smiled and shrugged.

"Thought it would mix things up a bit." He said, before turning back to Cutter and Forge's conversation.

"I'll keep her safe sir, don't worry about it." Forge said to which Cutter rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Fine, but if anything happens to her down there I will throw you into a vental hatch and test fire the engines. Understood?" Cutter said while narrowing his eyes.

Forge simply grinned and saluted. "Aye, sir." he said.

Cutter walked back to his chair while Anders walked off to her lab to gather up some portable equipment she had for the mission. Oh her way out she looked to Forge just before the connection closed and mouthed 'Thank you.' Forge just smiled and nodded as the Vid-Com closed. As anders passed the Holotable, Alex bowed and said "Have a pleasent trip, Professer." Serina waved and shouted after her. "Be sure to use protection!" Alex simply shook his head as he heard that, but he was smiling at the same time. He looked over towards Cutter and spoke.

"Sir, i'm going to need a bit more firepower myself if i'm going to make any difference in this fight." He said to which Cutter stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before looking back towards Alex.

"I think I can get you something." Cutter said, to which Alex did a small bow.

"Thank you, sir." He said before dissapearing to somewhere else aboard the ship. Serina simply did a sarcastic curtsey before dissapearing as well. Cutter simply leaned back. He was very, very tired.

Anders walked out of her lab and down the hall to the elevator to get to the hangar. She was silently thanking Forge for getting her a chance to see what was down there as well as Alex for agreeing to push an offensive instead of holding off. She walked into the elevator and began her decent into the hangar. She began to think of what it would be like down on Harvest, she had heard horrible things though they were mostly from Serina and she tended to exagerrate current events especially if they involved Human casualties. Though Alex seemed to be alright with her, but she had her suspicions about Alex and Serina. She would have to look into the two more later. She finally reached the hangar and began walking toward the Pelican. The hangar looked and sounded just like it did this morning. She reached the Pelican and boarded with a group of Marines who simply stayed quite during the ride down.

John Forge stood and watched as the Grizzly obliterated another Wraith that had strayed to close to the defense line of Alpha Base. The Grizzly was somthing that not only Forge was proud of, but the entire infantry force on Harvest was proud of. It showed just what the UNSC Marines were capable of and it was going to come as one hell of a nasty suprise to whatever was still guarding the relic when they saw this beast coming for them. Alex had run multiple scans on the tank and had classified it as a 'Super-Unit', something to absolutely stomp out an enemy force with_ extreme_ prejudice. Forge turned his head upwards to see a Shortsword fighter zoom overhead, along with a few Pelicans. One if which held Anders along with a squad of six Marines and a Warthog.

Anders stepped out of her transport into the cold air that came with the snow that always seemed to fall on Harvest, it interested her. But she wasn't here to start studying the meteorology and climate of Harvest, she was here to investigate the unknown structure that sergeant Forge found up north. Alex's voice came through her earpiece.

"Listen for the sounds of explosions and follow them wherever they lead. Forge should be near there." The AI said. Anders smiled, Alex was the perfect assistant for her. Quiet, polite, respectfull, and dosen't start arguments.

"Thanks, Alex." She replied.

"Anytime ma'am. Let me know if you need anything." He said before killing the channel.

Anders continued to walk and follow the sound of a large explosion up on the ridge to the left of Alpha base. She continued to walk until she saw Forge standing beside the Grizzly and the Grizzly putting shots down an whatever wasn't human. Forge turned and noticed her.

"Ah, Professer, welcome to Hell frozen over! Hope you enjoy your stay." He said while spreading his arms out to gesture to the icy fields beyond Alpha's gate. Anders chuckled and then went a bit pale.

"I'm afraid with all the Covenant here it won't be frozen much longer." She said grimmly. And as she finished her sentence a lone Ghost crested the ridge and began to charge the gate.

"Ah, don't worry." Forge began as the Grizzly fired, which picked the Ghost up and flung it into a hill before the scout detonated, showering the slope with bits and pieces of the Ghost and it's very unfortunate pilot.

"We're workin' on it." He said with a grin as he turned and walked back towards Alpha base.

Cutter was talking to Alex's fire team which he had dubbed 'Echo'. Through further examinations of the pictures it was deemed that they would need something for Anti-Armor purposes and Cutter had just the right idea on what to give them. The vehicle that sat behind him was a 'Cobra' moblie anti tank munitions delivery system. It was faster and more mobile than a Grizzly but it didn't hit quite as hard. It could be deployed to activate the KV-9 Railgun it had which hurt a hell of alot more than what it usually fires.

"Alright gentlemen, you will be recieving the vehicle we see here for destroying heavy armor emplacements. But it isn't up to me on how you use it. That desicion goes to your operations commander, you will follow his every order without question. Am I clear?" He said to which he recieved a chorus of "Sir, yes sir!" from the Marines as the jogged off to the various Pelicans that were sitting around in the hangar ready to leave. Cutter watched as the Cobra was loaded onto a Pelican that soon left for Harvest. He just hoped it was enough.

Cutter turned sharply on his heel and walked becked to the elevator. Upon reaching the familiar grey walls that were illuminated by the various consoles and lights in the bridge, he walked over to his chair and sunk into it as he let out a deep breath he didn't even realise he was holding.

Tommorow it would begin.

'Operation: Talvisota.'

_**AN: And there is chapter three. R&R, Hope you enjoyed, and I also hope you found the references somewhat entertaining!**_


	4. Operation: Talvisota

_**AN: Chapter 4...I think I've managed a solid updating speed. As usual R&R and i hope you enjoy. Now on with the show!**_

Alex looked over the ship's tactical map on the holotable to see that his troops were running into minor resistance, nothing to really worry about just a few Ghosts with some Grunts spread out here and there. Operation: Talvisota had begun an hour ago and they currently had Fireteam 'Echo' and Forge's men making their way north toward the relic's location. Echo had suffered no casualties and was heading up the eastern ridge to get an overwatch position to cover Forge's approach. Forge was heading up dead center, cutting down everything in his way. He remembered seeing a Marine tackle an Elite and backslash his throat before standing back up as casual as possible.

He was so proud. Serina was also standing beside Alex as they looked over the situation from the ship. Serina was about to fall over laughing when a Shortsword came through and bombed an area of Covenant causing a Grunt that was standing nearby to know what flying felt like.

"Oh my god, did you see it's face!?" She said before breaking out in maniacal laughter once more. Alex was about to join her in her hysterical laugh fest before Cutter walked in.

"Alex, whats the situation on the attack?" He asked before sitting down. Alex immediately straightened up along with the bridge crew while Serena kept on laughing.

"Good sir, approximately thirty seconds until they make contact with the structure." He said politely. Cutter nodded and looked over to Serina.

"Serina, what's the status of the weapons? Forge may need the MAC to clear some of them out." Said Cutter. Serina managed to stop laughing and get serious for a moment.

"Weapons are on stand by, the MAC is loaded and ready to fire, and all fighters are on alert for any sudden orders." She said, still grinning. Cutter nodded and sat back down in the Captain's chair. Alex turned back to Serina who had stopped laughing.

"You should focus you know, they're nearing the structure." He said. Serina grinned at him. "Oh, fine." She said as she stared at the tactical map while bringing the MAC online and preparing to aim it at whatever was dumb enough to show its alien face. Echo squad stopped on the ridge's slope and prepared to go down into the inevitable hell zone that was about to spring up. Forge's men prepared themselves, reloading their weapons, hopping aboard vehicles, and drawing knives. They moved into the kill zone with weapons drawn shouting to the top of their lungs to see...nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"What the hell?!" Was the first thing Forge said, well pretty much everybody said it. They were all expecting the fight of their lives when they rounded that corner but there was nobody there. The Covenant had completely vacated the area.

"I...I don't know.." Ander said as she stepped forward only to be stopped by Forge.

"Hold up ma'am, let me handle this. You stay back here." Forge said, fearing Cutter's wrath if Anders was captured or killed. He took a group of Marines forward and scouted the area to find that there wasn't a single soul in sight besides Echo team coming in from the hill.

"Anything?" Anders called out to which Forge shook his head. Where could they have gone?

Richard Allen flew over the structure while Echo team and Forge's men scouted it out, needless to say he was just as surprised as everyone else. Not long ago there was an entire Covenant battalion guarding that thing and now they were all gone? Richard didn't buy it. Not for one moment. He kept his weapons heated up and his motion trackers active as he flew the perimeter of the structure looking for any Covenant signature. He found none. He simply gained some altitude and went on standby just in case anything happened down there. He was suspicious. And he was right.

Alex looked stunned at what Forge discovered as he reached the structure. The Covenant had retreated? Impossible! They had the UNSC ground force outnumbered three to one for crying out loud, it's not like they heard Forge and thought 'He's batshit crazy!' and ran away.

"I did not see that coming." Serina spoke up from behind him, Alex didn't say a word but only continued to stare at the monitor. It was unbelievable. Alex ordered his men to hold position outside to make sure that this wasn't some Covenant trap.

"We'll leave you the Grizzly. I think it'll be more useful out here judging by what could be waiting for us to turn our backs. Good luck." Forge said to Alex before he, Anders, and his men went further down into the structure. There were a few units of scattered Covenant infantry in watchtowers but that was about it.

"What do you think of this, sir?" Forge heard Carmine whisper from his left. Forge had only one thought in his mind that could make sense of the situation.

"Ambush." He said plainly. He knew it was coming, he just knew it, he only hoped Alex could hold them off.

Serina stared at Alex, he seemed dead. Ready to just drop at any second, and she couldn't have that. She walked up next to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Go take a break, I got this." She said confidently. Alex looked at her and gave a caring smile.

"You sure?" He asked, fearing she was lying for his sake.

"Positive. I can handle this." She said as she turned to the map. He then did something he thought he'd never do a second time. He hugged her.

"Thanks." He said softly before turning around and sitting down on the Holotable, handing over his troop's command to Serina so his systems didn't shut down from overuse. Serina simply smiled, he really was too nice. She ordered the troops into a basic ambush position, using the Cobra's deployed form as her sniper while the Grizzly would take the hits. No Covenant had shown up yet but she knew it was going to happen. She was ready for them.

"Alpha, this is Forge. We're pinned down inside the relic! Requesting immediate assistance! Repeat, We're pinned down inside the relic and we won't last much longer!" Forge's shout came through the radio. Serina turned and brought up motion trackers.

"Captain! Multiple hostile signatures inbound!" She shouted to Cutter. He shot up from his chair.

"Get me Alpha and contact any fighters in that area. Bring the MAC up to." He said. This was bad.

Richard Allen was having a pretty shitty time. He knew there was something up but this? This was ungodly, thankfully his weapons were still primed and loaded, allowing him to wipe out multiple armored groups before the enemy infantry started taking potshots. Usually, this was no threat to him. He was in a Shortsword, small arms fire never could catch up but with how many shots were in the air this was bound to happen. Hell, some of it was Fuel rod shots and Banshees running him down. He was gliding to the ground via his parachute as he watched his Shortsword plow into the ground far ahead of him and explode. He reached the ground and unhooked his parachute before he took a look around to see gunfire and explosions behind him. He already knew what was going on there.

_'Must be Forge's guys. Might as well try to hel-'_ He was cut off when he suddenly felt an extraordinary pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw two light blue prongs sticking out before he felt a boot in his back and his right cheek was in the snow. His vision slowly faded but the last thing he saw was the snow turning a deep red color. Richard Allen was no more.

"Our only Shortsword in that area just went down! The only Air support we have is the MAC!" Serina shouted while shouting out orders to Echo. They had managed to deal with the infantry but most of the armor still remained. She brought the MAC down on an unsuspecting Wraith that was putting shots in at a squad of Marines. The Cobra fired another shot into a Ghost and tore it in half but a shot from a Banshee's fuel rod cannon managed to deal some damage to the gun, rendering it far more inaccurate. The Grizzly had endured shot after shot to its hull but strangely it had taken no critical damage and was still blazing away at the Wraiths, Ghosts, and Banshees occasionally.

"Sir, the enemy line is thinning and whatever forces that aren't still intact are retreating. I believe we've held them sir." She said.

"Casualties?" Cutter asked grimly from his seat. She could feel Alex tense behind her.

"37 dead sir..." She trailed off. She could feel Alex break a little as she said that. They were Alex's soldiers, his responsibility. And 37 families would soon be getting a knock on their doors. Alex stood up and walked over to the back of the Holotable and disappeared somewhere. Serina stared back at where Alex once was but quickly looked back towards the combat readouts. Someone noticed this.

"Go on." Came Cutter's voice from the Captain's chair. "I'll take it from here." He said, walking over to the Holotable. Serina smiled and nodded.

"Aye, Sir." She said before disappearing herself. She found Alex on the observation deck, staring out over Harvest with a sad expression on his face. Serina walked forward and stood beside them.

"I'm sorry." She said, Alex looked back up towards Serina and smiled. He was happy that she actually sought him out to try to comfort him. It helped. Her saying sorry was something special itself.

"I'll be okay. Thanks." He said while smiling at her. He turned back toward the Holotank on the observation deck and began to walk. Serina knew he wasn't okay but she let him go on anyway. He stopped however and looked back at her before continuing on toward the Holotank. He disappeared not long after. Serina looked down at Harvest for a bit before turning back to the Holotank and disappearing from the observation deck. When they arrived, Cutter had managed to secure Forge and Anders but was having trouble getting them out safely. Alex stepped in.

The Grizzly plowed through Hunters, Jackals, Elites, and an untold amount of Grunts as it led the way back out of the structure where a Pelican was supposedly waiting for them. Anders was alright which Forge thanked god for, Cutter did not joke around when he was angry and Forge knew that.

Apparently Echo had suffered a rather large amount of casualties, Forge and Anders noticed when a majority of the Marines were missing when they were sent in to retrieve them after Forge's call for help. They managed to escape after a rather hilarious encounter with a group of grunts and a light bridge, and upon exiting they saw it. The Pelican hadn't arrived yet but when they looked around they saw the wrecks of various Wraiths, Ghosts, Banshees, hordes of dead infantry on both sides, and a damaged Cobra waiting for them. The Pelican arrived not long after.

Cutter watched Alex closely, he was looking over the tactical map as the Pelicans arrived and evacuated whoever was still down there. 37 Casualties on the UNSC'S side and they were under Alex's command, it must have hurt him to see something like that happen. Serina was watching him with a worried look, no matter how dark her humor could get, she didn't dare crack a single joke. It probably would have done more harm than good. Alex turned to them.

"All teams extracted sir. ETA on arrival is around three minutes." He said with his usual tone. He had managed to regain some of his composure, he'd never seen casualties of that scale under his command. Cutter was relieved, the AI was taking the reports better than he thought he would. Cutter looked over to Serina.

"What did you do?" He asked, he was curious about what Serina did to help him adjust to the deaths.

"I just told him I was sorry." She said, confused. Cutter smirked a bit.

"Hearing an apology from you is like witnessing the second coming of Christ." He said jokingly. Alex dispelled the combat readouts and stared out over Harvest, Serina went to the Hangar to handle the troops coming back in and alert the medical crews, and Cutter simply sat back down in his chair. Despite the casualties, Opreation: Talvisota had been a victory, and the UNSC needed every one of them they could get their hands on if they wanted to retake Harvest.

Sergeant Forge stepped out of the transport bay of his Pelican with Anders following not far behind, the mission had been a success and Anders had found some interesting data on Arcadia and that made her even more eager to go. They already had established they were going there but the Covenant had more than likely found the same thing they had and they were not going to wait a week for the UNSC to make a decision on what to do. They needed to go and they needed to go quickly. Anders walked right by everyone in her way and eventually broke into a run to get to the bridge. Upon arrival she walked straight up to Cutter.

"Captain, you're going to want to see this."

Benjamin Carmine was ecstatic. He had survived a firefight! He even managed to kill a few Jackals to boot! His mom would be so proud of him. He'd heard horrible things about fighting the Covenant, that they were merciless monsters that could rip a man in half. From what he saw those rumors had no basis. Carmine walked happily back to his quarters, he didn't have any wounds so a trip to the Medical wing wasn't necessary, and faceplanted on his cot before passing out not a second later. Let it never be said that being in the Marines was not exhausting.

Alex was in the Medical wing, assisting with readouts and locating supplies for panicked nurses and medical techs. There wasn't that many wounded, about a dozen or so but the wounds were bad. One guy had been impaled through the shoulder by an energy sword, another shot five times in the chest with a plasma rifle, and another had even been shot in the throat with a particle beam rifle. How that poor bastard managed to survive is a miracle. He remained in the room for about three hours before a more important matter was called to his attention. Well, more important to them anyway. He arrived on the bridge shortly after he was notified.

"You called sir?" He asked Cutter to which the captain turned and looked at him.

"Good to see you Alex, what's the situation in the Medical wing?" He asked the AI, knowing that he had been down there for a while.

"There's not alot but the wounds are bad. We've managed to keep the majority of them stable." He said with a hopefully tone at the end bit. Cutter nodded and turned to Anders. Alex noticed that Forge and Serina were also present.

"You've got us all here, now what is it?" He said with slight irritation.

"Right. Now while we were down in the structure, we did find something. But it wasn't a weapon. It was a map." She said while showing us a star map that pointed to...

"Arcadia? What's so special about Arcadia?" Forge said, confused. Serina pulled up some information on the planet.

"Other than the fact that it's a multi-million dollar vacation resort, nothing really stands out." She said. Then something struck Cutter like a ton of bricks.

"Isn't Arcadia under attack right now?!" He shouted, the Covenant had already beat them there. Serina pulled up some UNSC combat reports.

"Yes, battle group Washington has already engaged the enemy warships in that sector and are holding them off for now." Serina said, she could tell by his expression that Harvest was going to have to wait for now. And so did Alex.

"Would you like me to contact Admiral Cole sir?" The AI asked but he already knew the answer and had pulled up Vid-Com.

"Affirmative. Forge, ready your troops. Alex, you too. I have a feeling that the Covenant really wants what's on Arcadia." Cutter said. Serina pulled up the ships engine and Battle-Net readouts.

"Recalling surface teams. Crazy mystery trip to Arcadia plotted. Spinning up FTL Drive." Serina said. Alex twitched for a second, he knew he had heard that somewhere.

"Alex, get back down to Medical. We'll call you up if we need you." Cutter said. Alex saluted as Admiral Cole came up on the Holotable. Alex arrived down in the Medical wing with one thought on his mind.

_'Things are going to get a lot more..interesting around here.'_

_**AN: And there goes Chapter 4. If you don't mind dropping a review, I'd appreciate it. See you guys next time!**_


	5. City Under Siege

_**N: Alright I want to clarify something real quick. There are going to be multiple Arcs to this story. Arc-1 Is the 'Harvest Arc' which we just finished. Arc-2 Is the 'Arcadia' Arc. And the rest...I'll just show them as we go. Now on with the show!**_

The Spirit of fire jumped out of slip-space outside of Arcadia and into one hell of a surprise. UNSC Belfast, Armstrong, Texas, and Pillar of Autumn were in an all out gunfight against two CSS-Class battle cruisers, and they were losing. None had been destroyed yet but they had suffered damage. Thankfully for the UNSC, Admiral Cole had sent five Paris-Class Frigates with the Spirit of Fire. The Frigates peeled off and started unleashing hell on one of the CSS, Breaking it's shielding and leaving some pretty sizeable holes in it. But it wasn't dead and the fact remained that two CSS Battlecruisers were more than a match for a handful of Frigates and Light cruisers. Cutter would have intervened but Admiral Cole had given them strict orders not to risk getting in a fight until they knew what was on Arcadia. Alex appeared on the bridge beside Serina and looked over to Cutter.

"Orders, sir?" He asked, wondering if he should start maneuvering into a firing position for Serina to take shots at the two battle cruisers. Cutter shook his head.

"Negative, we have orders to avoid combat situations with enemy vessels. Continue course and speed." Cutter ordered to which Alex saluted and turned back to Serina and relayed the order to her, and judging by the fact Alex laughed a bit Cutter deemed she let out one of her trademark snarks. Serina suddenly spoke up.

"Captain, I'm getting a signal. Audio only." She said as she played the broadcast.

"This is Arcadian Patrol 2248, we are suffering heavy casualties! Require immediate military assistance!" A frantic voice shouted over the ship's comms. Serina turned back to Cutter.

"Sir, video coming in now!" She said as she brought it up on the monitor. What they saw was astounding. A camera was facing upwards toward the sky to see various Covenant aircraft attack the city. But eventually the image of a soldier wearing heavy green armor with a red stripe and a yellow visor, firing at an unknown target off-screen before running off and being followed by multiple others dressed just like them.

Spartans.

Cutter stood up and looked over to Alex and Serina. They both knew where he was going with this and it wasn't going to end well.

"Get Forge down there now. Deploy pods and prepare to set up a Firebase." Cutter ordered as he walked over to the Holotable. Serina and Alex began sending troops and drop ships down towards Arcadia. Forge was aboard one of the Pelicans and Anders agreed, against her will, to come down at a later time. Alex turned to Serina.

"Seems like quite the resort does it not?" He half asked, half said. She laughed again.

"Yeah sure, now silencing noise complaints with death! How convenient!" She joked to which Alex grinned. He didn't laugh however, it wasn't that funny. Alex walked forward a bit and watched the Pods and Pelicans dive down towards the Arcadia city center. Alex could only hope they survived.

Forge sat aboard the Pelican as it rocked and swayed from the fire of ground forces and Banshees. He gripped his shotgun tighter as the Pelican began to slow, meaning it was getting closer to the ground. The Pelican eventually touched down near a civilian monorail station that connected in between multiple towers, ideal strategic points to place Marines. A rather cryptic message came over the public announcement system.

"Any station this net, Cargo 3 has gone down. Repeat, Cargo 3 is gone. All civilians proceed to Cargo's 2 and 1 for evac." The voice sounded surprisingly calm despite the situation. Forge turned to his men and ordered them to head to the transport's locations. The Marines divided up into two brigades while all the Hornets went off to Cargo 1 as it had received the most attention from the Covenant. Especially their air force. Forge took a group of three squads and a Scorpion to look for a suitable Firebase deployment site. Apparently, Carmine was one of the Marines.

"There seems good." He said, suddenly appearing beside Forge. He looked ahead to see where Carmine was pointing. A fairly wide lot that was enclosed on two sides by buildings and had one of the Monorail tracks running above it. Forge nodded and walked forward, placing a beacon for the Pod to deliver the structure. In the time span of around ten minutes the Firebase was ready. Reports had come in stating that the Spartan team 'Omega' had assisted in the defense of Cargo one and that the Covenant attacking force had been repulsed. But the fight wasn't quite over yet. Covenant forces had arrived in mass at the community center and the Arcadian Patrol was taking heavy casualties, god knows how many citizens had been killed.

Alex looked over the situation on the ground, it appeared to be going well. Cargo's 1 and 2 had escaped without incident and spartan team Omega was assisting Forge's men in defending the community center. Alex was once again getting overworked but he didn't let it show, he didn't like to worry Serina. He turned back to Cutter.

"Sir, the Covenant appear to be deploying from the North-East. Would you like me to send a team and investigate?" Alex asked. Cutter hummed and looked down, thinking for a moment before looking back up.

"Send a squad but don't attack their base if you find it. Contact Forge and alert him of anything." He said. Alex saluted and relayed the orders. Serina was bringing shots from the MAC down on anything that wasn't enemy infantry. Alex simply watched as the Marines arrived in the Monorail tower he had directed them to. And he was apparently right. There indeed was a Covenant base set up and deploying forces but the question was if they were going to able to take it down. It was defended on every corner by turrets and some infantry had stayed behind to guard it. Serina looked over at Alex.

"You still alive over there?" She asked him, he looked back and nodded with his usual smile. Serina made a face, she didn't believe him. Not one bit. She walked forward.

"Your tired." She said. Alex shook his head. Serina put her hands on her hips and just stared at him. He eventually sighed and walked to the back of the Holotable. Rule number one, the woman will almost always win the argument. It's best just to quit while your ahead. Serina smiled at him as he walked to the back and disappeared. She turned to Cutter.

"So, who do we send to their death next?" She asked with a smile. Cutter just sighed and shook his head as he walked back to the Captain's chair. Serina was good at her job, dealing with her? No.

Forge had received new orders to get to a crater on the Arcadian city outskirts, apparently it was a suitable area to deploy an entire Fortress. It would be valuable to have a good foothold, even if it was just on the outskirts of the city it could help but there was an entire Covenant Citadel on the eastern side of the city and they had to wipe it out before the community center could be fully evacuated. As they approached the crater they could already see a Pod flying back out towards the Spirit of Fire. They walked down in the crater and into the base. Forge turned around to his troops.

"Alright gentlemen, we've got work to do." Indeed they did. The first order of business was setting up supply pads and a barracks. After this was done, a field armory and vehicle depot were deployed. And finally a reactor was made. Alex was placed in command of the attack, he decided to use the 'Turtle' strategy. Which is basically setting up a heavy defense force and wiping out the enemy units as they try and attack and then turning your defense force into an attack force and blitzing the Citadel. He moved multiple Scorpions and Cobras into overwatch positions around the base. Marines and Flamethrower crews took cover behind crashed Pelicans, land depressions and the buildings on the base itself. The actual fight didn't last very long, the Covenant had only sent about three Wraiths and a small force of infantry which were quickly dispatched from the concentrated fire of UNSC forces. Everyone was pretty satisfied with the result, except for Alex.

"What's wrong?" Serina asked from beside him. He looked down and shook his head.

"There weren't enough of them for a full-scale attack, they knew that but they sent them anyway. The Citadel has the rest of them." He said. Now he wasn't sure if an attack was such a good idea. If the Covenant main force was defending the Citadel then an attack would be near impossible. Unless...

"Captain? What's the status of the MAC?" Alex asked. Cutter looked back at him with a somewhat puzzled look.

"Armed and ready to fire. Why?" He said. Alex nodded and looked back down at the map.

"Can you set it to be able to fire at pre-set targets?" He asked, Cutter nodded. Alex looked over to Serina.

"Already on it." She said as she brought up a display. The MAC was aimed to the north and the shots were place in a tight ring around Alex's coordinates. Alex formulated a plan that sending his whole force would be outright suicide. He decided he would send a single scout Warthog to confirm the coordinates before firing, this way the Citadel's defenses would be too weak to defend against an all out attack. The Warthog was dispatched and the coordinates were confirmed therefore the Citadel's defenses were all but crippled. Alex's forces advanced on the base and promptly obliterated it but one complication still remained. The community center wasn't evacuated yet and there were still Banshees out there. Alex turned to Cutter.

"We need to send one of the Frigates down. That will provide a thick enough AA screen to drive them off." He said. Cutter nodded and gave the order. Within a few minutes UNSC 'Ready or Not' was in Arcadia's atmosphere, shooting down what little aircraft the Covenant had left. The community center was finally evacuated and UNSC Forces had set up a solid presence on the ground. Especially with a Frigate looming over them. Forge had been handed command of the base from Alex and had ordered the base on lock down just in case of another attack. Covenant forces had withdrawn further south but the UNSC gave up pursuit at risk of further casualties.

Anders sat in a Pelican on her way down to the base that UNSC forces had set up on the Arcadian outskirts. She needed to find out what had been so important to the Covenant before they could act against the two CSS Battlecruisers that were giving Cole's reinforcements a hard time. Just because the UNSC now had superiority on the ground didn't quite mean that it was the same case in the air. Hell, if those two CSS-class decided to come down to atmosphere they would absolutely obliterate the base and any evacuation centers. Anders wouldn't allow this to happen, Serina? Probably would. She arrived on base and began setting up the equipment she brought to run scans of the area and what she found was odd, the only thing of note was a massive energy spike around 2 kilometers from where the base currently sat.

"Well thats...odd..." She said as she looked over the readings. Apparently there was a large concentration of energy in a circular shape, somewhat like a dome. This was a puzzling discovery, as it didn't seem like something a race of ancient aliens would leave behind and have a relic pointing to it. And it was right over a part of the city so that means it had been placed there. And recently. They had to get there and soon.

"Ma'am, Captain Cutter is on the line for you." A ODST said from the door way. Anders cleared her throat.

"Yes, thank you. I'll get to it immediately." She said, the ODST nodded and left as she picked up the phone.

"Sir?"

"Anders, the CCS'S just wrecked Belfast, do you have what you need?" Cutter said quickly. Anders nodded even thugh Cutter couldn't see it.

"Yes, I have its location." She said.

"Copy. Alex, get us in there." He said before the line went dead.

Alex had maneuvered the ship into a firing position as Serina took over the firing controls, putting a full broadside salvo on the damaged CCS and blowing it clean in half. Armstrong approached behind the intact CCS and fired its MAC and salvo of Archers which broke the ship's shielding. Texas unloaded its point defense guns and MAC into the ship's engines which prevented its escape. Pillar of Autumn unleashed it's Archers, eventually the CSS gave in to the hits and a large explosion flared from the engines. Cutter sighed and fell back in his chair.

"Alex, damage report." He said. Alex pulled up a few displays and nodded upon seeing the result of the fight.

"We lost Belfast, Texas' engines are down, Armstrong sustained a hit on the reactor so it's weapons are down, Autumn is venting atmosphere. We've sustained no damage." He said. Cutter nodded.

"Alright people we aren't done yet. Serina, get us into position over Arcadia. Alex, prep the MAC." He ordered. Today was a victory but the citizens of Arcadia would never forget the day they woke up to a Covenant invasion. Something even the best survivalist could never predict.

_**AN: A wee bit shorter than usual but that's because I'm working on a rather...lengthy project.**_


	6. WTF!

_**AN: Well this story has been moving forward nicely! Now on with the show! Also, this is going to be a very light-hearted chapter. As in there will be no action.**_

_'What am I listening to?'_ Alex thought as the sound flowed into his ears. The sound was an odd one. An old one. Over four hundred years to be exact. Alex had heard many odd things, most of them from Serina and Forge but this right here took the cake. He had gotten bored and decided to do a bit of hacking, after jacking into Forge's terminal he began to browse through the various media files on his computer. He kinda wished he hadn't now.

"What are you doing?" Serina asked from behind him. Alex turned around and looked at her briefly before transferring the file so she could hear it. Serina sat there for a second, as if she was processing something, then burst out laughing like a maniac. Alex really didn't blame her, the song was just...odd. He didn't know if the artists were mocking this type of personality or if they were actually supporting it.

_'No...there's no way anyone could even...what?!' _Thats all that could run through his mind as he listened to the lyrics. He looked over to Serina who was still on the ground laughing herself to death, and Cutter who had just walked in with a rather confused look on his face.

"Ummm, Alex? What is she doing?" He asked the AI but got no response as Serina beat him to the punch.

"Exploring Forge's taste in music." She managed to say before going back to laughing on the holotable. Cutter turned back to Alex.

"Care to explain?" He asked while raising his eyebrow. Alex simply brought up a display and activated the bridge intercom. Cutter's jaw hit the floor in two seconds flat.

"What the..." He trailed off, unable to believe what he was hearing. Forge had some weird tastes. Cutter considered calling Forge up to the bridge to explain this but he was to hypnotized by the lyrics of whatever the hell he was hearing to even remember that Forge was still on Arcadia. He turned back to Alex.

"What am I hearing?" He asked. Alex pulled up a display and began to type. A screen came up displaying the song name and artist name. Cutter tilted his head.

"This is over four hundred years old!" He shouted in absolute disbelief. He knew Forge was an odd one but this? He had no idea! He turned over to Serina.

"Can you get me a line to Forge? I want to know just why he has this." Cutter said. He wasn't angry, he was just confused about why Forge had music like this. Serina nodded and stood up, she pulled up a display and began to bring up a communications link. She turned back to Cutter still grinning.

"The atmospheric interference is heavy here, it may take a bit." She said before breaking back into laughter, Alex just sat there trying to process just exactly what these lyrics meant. Cutter turned to him after realizing the intercom was still on.

"Shut that off. It's starting to get weirder...somehow..." He said as Alex turned off the intercom. Serina stopped laughing not long after and stood up beside Alex as she went back to getting Forge.

Forge was sitting down outside the Fortress in the Arcadia crater wondering when the next Covenant attack would show up. Well, when I say sitting I really mean, laying down on the crater's edge with a High-Caliber rifle zeroed in on the dip that leads to the base. There was some other sniper on the ridge a few dozen feet away but they had a mask on with their helmet so he couldn't tell who they were but he assumed that they were doing the same thing. He heard footsteps behind him. He rolled onto his back and aimed his side-arm at the intruder before lowering it once he realised it was just Carmine.

"Christ kid, nearly gave me a heart attack!" He half shouted while chuckling. Carmine just gave a nervous laugh.

"Captain Cutter sir, he's on the line for you." Carmine said before walking back. Forge stopped him.

"I'll go down there and see what he's got for me. You stay up here and watch the entrance." He said, gesturing to the rifle as he walked away. Carmine happily got into a prone position and aimed in.

Forge brought up the Vid-Com and waited for Cutter to appear, which when he did a shocked look was on his face. He said seven words.

"What the hell did I just hear?" He asked with a quizzical tone. Forge began to hear the song play and he fell out of his chair from how much he was laughing. Cutter just sighed and shook his head.

"Turn it off!" He barked at Serina. The song cut off and Forge was still laughing his ass off on the ground. If one looked close enough they would see two ODST's looking through the doorway at the hysterical sergeant.

"Uhh...should we?" One began but was cut off by the other senior officer.

"Nope." He said plainly and walked away, the other following him.

Forge continued to laugh until Cutter eventually regained his attention. Forge got up and sat back down in his chair while turning to the screen.

"Why were you listening to that?" Cutter asked him. Forge didn't respond, he only kept laughing. Cutter was about to have Alex cut the channel until Forge finally spoke.

"What did you think?" He asked. Cutter simply shook his head as the sergeant continued laughing. Cutter turned toward the holotable.

"Cut it." He said, Serina brought up a display and began typing. The VidCom shut off and the hologram of Forge vanished.

Cutter paced around the bridge with one question on his mind, Why the hell would he have a song like that? He shook his head, Forge did indeed have some odd tastes. He looked over to Serina and Alex while speaking an order involving the Frigate stationed over Arcadia's community center. Alex saluted but Serina didn't quite notice it due to the fact that she was still laughing about the song. Alex facepalmed and went about completing the order while Cutter sat back down in the Captain's chair, still wondering about the song and why Forge had it of all people!

The day carried on as usual, Ready or Not retreated back into orbit to assist the other five Frigates and the remaining Cruisers in establishing a firm perimeter around Arcadia. Forge managed to calm himself down long enough to relieve Carmine of the sniping post. Alex, Cutter, and Serina deployed a small amount of reinforcements to aid in the continuing evacuation. And Anders had finally found a useable route toward the strange energy reading that she had found. Dome shaped with a rather large amount of Bio-Signs definantly made a red flag shoot up in her mind. That, and Forge's hysterical laughter from the room across from her.

"What is going on in there?" She asked herself out-loud. A passing ODST heard her and shook his head as he stopped.

"I have absolutely no idea." He said before continuing his walk to god-knows-where. Anders' curiosity got the better of her and she walked to Forge's door. What she saw was a grown man in full combat armor who was face down on the desk laughing while his fist smashed into the metal table-top. Anders could only wonder.

"What the hell has gotten into you?!"

Alex sat on the edge of the holotable. His legs swaying back and forth as he contemplated the song and the artist's intentions with it. Upon researching the band he found that the only information of note was the fact that they tended to wear masks during interviews, videos, and performances. A rather curious thing.

_'Perhaps they were criminals? Maybe they had some sort of disorder?'_ He attempted to justify the masks but none of it really added up much. He eventually deemed it as a type of trade-marked gimick from the band and left it at that.

"Did you see the skipper's face?! Ahahahahahha!" Serina laughed from behind him. Alex simply nodded and started running sector scans though all that came up were the Frigates and Cruisers patrolling the area for any signs of Covenant. Alas, after a full hour of scanning the escort ships found nothing and started going into atmosphere to shatter any Covenant positions that were still left on Arcadia. A thought occurred to him.

"Did you by any chance...know of that song?" He asked with a suspicious tone. Serina fought off the laughter for a few seconds in order to respond.

"Nope. But I wish I did!" She said before the laughter came back on. Alex just gave a nod that said 'Yeah, that's bullshit' and went about his usual routines. Cutter walked in with a mug full of coffee and a very agitated look on his face. He seemed to be stopping in only briefly though.

"Alex, you have the conn." He said before turning back down the hallway. Alex was confused for a moment but decided not to question the captain's judgement and saluted.

"Aye sir. I have the conn." He said before bringing the ship's weapons online and pulling up auxiliary system displays. Serina walked up behind him, as she finally stopped laughing, and began taking over some of the other systems. They brought the ship up to full combat regulatory preperations and contacted Forge. Who didn't answer. They decided to give him a while as he was probably still laughing at Cutter's expression from their last conversation. Alex began hearing reports of fleeing Covenant forces. Time to get Forge's attention. He handed control to Serina.

Forge shot sky-high and broke into a dead sprint outside along with four ODSTS to find out what had made the explosion. Forge instantly thought that the Covenant were making a counter attack in one last final effort to drive the UNSC from Arcadia. A common thought for an explosion here.

He was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

Upon running up the ramp from inside the base he saw a crater. Not the one they were in, a smaller one. It appeared that it was indeed a projectile that made the hole but who had shot it? Plasma mortars from Wraiths never made that kind of impact, and the CSS in orbit had been knocked out.

"Do I have your attention?" Serina's voice asked innocently from Forge's earpiece. Forge's mind ground to a halt upon hearing her. She had fired the round?!

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID?!" He shouted back.

"Of course, I got your attention." She said casually before the radio went silent. Forge's roar of frustration would have made the Covenant retreat for miles out of fear alone. Serina however was laughing once more.

"Not like that! You could have killed someone!" Alex shouted at her as she grabbed his shoulder and pulled herself back to her feet. Alex simply sighed and shook his head as he stared at the ground, or the holotable in this circumstance. Serina decided to speak in between laughing.

"Oh come on, it was funny and you know it!" She said with a grin. Alex just facepalmed.

"You have gone insane." He said. He was really considering the option that all the things she does has driven her to the brink of rampancy.

"No ones dead. Not yet." She said and broke out laughing again, Alex turned to look at her.

"I am really beginning to question your stability."

_**AN: You guys know the drill by now! And I'll let you guess what the song is. Here's a hint:**_

_**Gangsta!**_

_**Gangsta!**_

_**So Gangsta!**_


End file.
